To Live and Feel
by Refia
Summary: What would it have been like to be that creature, or any of its kind? What would it feel like to live? What would it feel like to face death? How would it feel to have friends and family? For that matter, how would it feel like just to feel?
1. Birth

To Live and Feel

This is perhaps one of the strangest ideas I ever had, it's a slight crossover between perhaps the 2 most weird universes to cross. Bionicle and Lord of the Rings. They have naught in common and that's not really needed. It's focussed in Middle Earth, with the Ignika, Mask of Life, creating a human body for itself to learn what it means to live and feel. Some things that you'd perhaps would liek to know: the Ignika is a Mask and object, correct, but is has a limited form of conscience. It is the Mask of 'Life' but it cannot ressurect the dead (techniclaly it can, but one has to die using it to ressurect one of the dead, but this will not happen here). The Ignika will not become an object Sauron desires to have (none in Middle Earth can use the mask anyway), it will not join the fellowship. At most it will meet some of the fellowshop characters briefly in a chapter or so. This is the story of an object that desires to feel and live. This is Middle Earth seen through the 'eyes' of that object. Like it or hate it, your choice, but no flames. Disliking can be said without flaming. Thanks.

**1. Birth**

In the depths of the lake, something stirred. It was barely a flicker of energy, so minute that the creatures of the water took no notice. But if any of them had possessed senses acute enough, they might have detected the merest hint of…consciousness? Confusion? Or fear?

No, not fear. More like curiosity. Reaching out with a tendril of its power, it examined its surroundings. Water. Mud. Plantlife. Strange organic creatures it had never seen or met before in its long existence. And still so much more above the waters, the shear amount of new things boggled its conscience.

What should it do? It did not know. The Mask of Life, the Kanohi Ignika, for the first time in its long existence, did not know for sure what to do. It had been created long ago, to sustain a universe until that universe was strong enough so it no longer needed the Mask. It had been used by a living creature to bring Life and order to the universe, and then it had been discarded. No, not discarded, more like placed somewhere to rest. The Ignika was a powerful object, coveted by many and feared by almost all in the universe it came from. To prevent abuse, the creators of the Mask had placed it in a different dimension all together, a dimension where none of the universe the Mask had helped to create could ever reach it. There, in that new dimension, on the bottom of a pure lake, the Mask would be allowed to rest forever.

That had been so long ago and the Mask had remained on the bottom of the lake ever since, never wondering, never thinking, just resting. Yes, the Mask could think. It was more than just a simple object or Mask. It was the Mask of Life, an object so powerful it had to have conscience so it would be able to protect itself, to prevent itself from falling in the wrong hands. In the universe it had come from, the Mask had created guardians, mostly creatures it evolved with its powers, to protect itself. But here, the Mask had felt no need for that. It could not sense any evil beings desiring to claim it for themselves. The Mask had decided its purpose had been served and time to rest had come. It would never leave this lake.

At least, that's what the mask had believed. But something had disturbed that thought, not too long ago. The Mask remembered what it had been to be worn and used by a living being. The price for using the Mask of Life was death, and the bearer of the Mask had been afraid to die. Not so long ago, a creature had fallen into the lake and had sunken to the bottom of the deep, pure waters. Its sudden presence had disturbed the Mask's slumber and intrigued, it had examined the creature and its mind. But as soon as the Mind of the creature had made contact with the limited conscience of the Mask, the Mask had broken the contact. The sheer amount of panic and fear of death had alarmed the Ignika, even gone as far as frightened it.

The Ignika had understood that this creature did not belong underwater, that it was dying even. Drowning. The creature was afraid and did not want to die. The Mask of Life did not enjoy seeing living beings die, not in an unnatural way at least. After all, it viewed Life as the greatest of gifts that had to be enjoyed until one's Life reached the natural point of ending. But this dying creature was far from the point of natural death. The Mask of Life did not like that. With its power, it had changed the creature into something that could survive in this watery environment. The Mask of Life had no idea what the creature had been (a human, it would later learn) nor what it had changed it into, but it saw the creature was now safe and no longer dying. The newly transformed living being could breath water and survive in this lake. Its life was saved and the Ignika was satisfied.

Now that the creature's mind was no longer full of panic, the Mask touched its mind again. The creature would never remember its life before the Mask had transformed it, but the memories of that life still laid dormant inside the being's mind. And what the Ignika saw in those memories, struck it with awe. The world above these waters was amazing and vastly different than the world the Mask had been created in. Everything around the Mask and in this world was organic, as opposed to the biomechanical life in the universe the Mask had come from. But there was more. Not just the world or life. No, what truly amazed the Mask was the feelings and emotions it had detected in the being's mind. The bonds it had with others of its kind, the feelings, the emotions. The happiness when being with family, the fun it had with friends while playing in the sun or in the forests of this world. And so much more.

Friends… Family… Those were alien concepts to the Mask. It was, after all, an object. Even with its limited the conscience, those things, those emotions, it had never experienced. But seeing all that in the beings mind had awakened something deep within the Mask. Like, a great desire to know more and experience more. The being that had wore and used the Mask long ago had been afraid to die, despite trying to be brave. The Mask had not seen or learned any emotions or feelings within him, aside from fear. But this creature's mind had been full of all kinds of feelings. Feelings the Mask had never thought they existed. Ever since reading the creature's mind, the Mask had been unable to rest, curiosity and wondering rendering it unable to rest as it had always done for so long.

_What would it have been like to be that creature, or any of its kind? _The Mask wondered. _To have lived – to face death – to have others care for you for who you are instead of what you can do, as this one has been for so long…What would it feel like to have friends, family, to be trusted and liked instead of needed and feared? For that matter…What would it feel like just to feel?_

Particles and stray molecules were drawn to one spot, called by the Mask. It had made up its mind. The Mask used its Will to give the molecules form and function, out of the mass it crafted torso and limbs, hands and feet. The Mask attached itself to the skull of the growing body and drew more molecules towards itself to cover the Mask itself. From the memories it had seen, the Mask knew no living being in this World wore Masks like in the universe the Mask had been created in. If the Mask made a body for itself that wore the Mask on its 'face', it would never be trusted. The Mask used the Molecules to cover itself, attaching them to its surface. Doing its very best, the Mask created a face for its body that at the same time hid the golden surface of the Mask completely under 'skin'.

The new body sat up unsteadily and 'inhaled' through the pointed thing on its 'face' – its nose, the Mask supposed – and immediately felt something was not right. The body inhaled a deep breath of water, a substance this body could not breath. The Mask realized its error. It had based its body upon that of the creature it had saved, and that creature had not been able to breath water. The Mask had simply forgotten this fact when making the body, because it had never needed to breath. Still, it did not intend to remain here, underwater, so it was best not to modify the body. Rather, it had to escape the waters. The Mask did not have the experience with its new body to know how to swim. It noticed a waterplant growing on the bottom of the lake nearby. Hesitatingly, still getting used to the sensation of moving independently, the new being – Ignika it would call itself, for that was its name – moved to the plant. Standing on one of its leaves, Ignika used its powers of Life to speed up the plant's growing process, but evolved it as well, making the plant grow more rapidly, but grow to gigantic size as well. Ignika kept its balance on the leaves while the plant shot upwards through the waters, until it surfaced, drifting on the waters like a giant lily.

Ignika's 'eyes' widened when it took in its first sights of the world above the waters. Slowly, the new being inhaled its first breath of air, for the first time also smelling the different smells in the air. It saw the blue sky above it, the sun beaming down on the body, all kinds of sounds filling the air. Ignika was fascinated by this strange, organic world, so fascinated that it was unable to move or act for a long time.

Finally, after taking in its surroundings, Ignika decided it was time to leave the lake and set a foot on land. Calling upon its powers once more, the new being grew more giant lilies to form a path from the middle of the lake to its shores. Ignika walked over the plants until it set a foot on dry land for the first time. The new being was fascinated by how moving on its own felt, how breathing, tasting, smelling, how it all felt. It was amazing and overwhelming at the same time. The Mask knew it would take a while to get used to it all, but it was not afraid, no… It felt… Ignika searched the memories of the creature once more until it found the feeling it was looking for. Yes, excited, that's how it felt. Ignika pondered how to best react upon feeling amazed, overwhelmed and excited. Maybe it was best to not act at all?

Ignika tensed slightly. It sensed Life nearby. Of course there was life everywhere around the body, but this Life felt very familiar. It felt like the creature it had saved in the lake. Ignika decided that's where it would go. It wanted to have friends and family. Eager and excited, Ignika began to walk in the direction of the presence to go and greet its new… friends? _Perhaps_, it hoped. Perhaps indeed.

--

End of Chapter 1. Next chapter Ignika will come into contact with intelligent living beings and it will decide a gender for itself.


	2. Encounter

**2. Encounter**

Walking was, to say the least, a strange feeling. It did not feel wrong at all, no, it just was strange. Ignika was used to lying still on the same place for years, only moving when someone picked it up and carry it. To move on its own, it was quite… enjoyable? The strange green plants on the ground tickled its bare feet. Another new, but not so bad, feeling. The body inhaled another deep breath of air. Ignika did not understand the purpose of breathing, but breathing did not feel wrong. It supposed that breathing was something all living beings did and seeing as it now was a living being, it would breath, simple as that.

The newly created being had wandered into a forest. Ignika marvelled at the giant trees towering above it. This world threw one discovery after another at the new being. It had seen a lot in the memories of the creature it had saved in the lake, but experiencing and seeing all those things itself was so much more satisfying. All kinds of sounds reached the ears of the body, all unfamiliar. Ignika wanted to look around, find where every one of those sounds came from, what made them. It wanted to study all of the plantlife around it, see how its life worked. It wanted to study and observe all of the different types of animals there were. But not now. It would have time to do all that later. Now, it was focussed on finding the presence that felt familiar to the presence of the creature from back in the lake.

Suddenly, Ignika stopped in its tracks. There was a presence nearby, a new presence. This one violent and hostile. For a moment, Ignika felt fear. If this new presence was out to claim the mask for itself, Ignika would not be able to defend itself. It did not have the necessary experience with this body for that. Perhaps it should create guardians for itself? The memories of the creature told Ignika that if that creature had been threatened, it would run off to older beings of its kind – more specifically friends or family – so that they could protect it. Ignika had no friends or family it could turn to, but it could still create guardians as it had always done. The only thing that felt wrong about that, however, was that it was not something a living being of this world would – or rather 'could' – do. And Ignika was now a living being itself…

There was a growl. Ignika turned slowly. A strange, hairy creature with sharp teeth eyed it with delight, seeing the body of the Mask as nothing more but a simple meal. Ignika sensed the evil intentions of the creature and raised its hand. Had anyone been there to witness these events, of course they would have thought of it as foolish, for how can you stop a wild predator by raising your hand? But then the creature did stop its approach. It began to breath faster. With each passing second, the beast seemed to weaken until finally, it dropped dead on the ground.

Ignika watched the dead creature with both regret and satisfaction. It had saved itself, yes, but it had killed a living being. Ignika did not like killing living things, it felt wrong. But it was the creature's life or its own. So Ignika had used the most merciful option: it had sped up the creature's life processes until they came to a natural halt.

Ignika prepared to continue on its way, when something flew right past its head. That something then embedded itself in the trunk of a tree right behind Ignika. Puzzled, the new being turned and examined the object. It was made of wood, like the trees of the forest, but it had feathers at one end and an iron, pointy tip on the other. Searching the memories, Ignika tried to understand what this object was. An… arrow? Yes, that was it, this things was an arrow. It did not live, it was an object, like Ignika had been before it had become a living being. Scanning the memories once more, Ignika tried to find out where this arrow could have come from. The things it had learned from the memories of the creature from back in the lake, told it that an arrow is used by some of the creatures of this world as a means of defence or offence. It was obvious the hairy creature had not fired this arrow, for you needed a 'bow' for that. So this arrow could not have been used as a means of defence, for Ignika had only killed the hairy beast. Thus, someone else had to be around that had _attacked_ Ignika.

The new body looked around, trying to figure out where the arrow had come from. (Logical thinking and following the arrow in the opposite direction for example, was not something the Mask had learned quite yet.) It didn't have to move long, though, for words made Ignika come to a halt.

"Do not move." Ignika blinked. The language used was unfamiliar, it did not understand it. Still, it had been so surprised to hear words and spoken language, that Ignika had stopped in amazement. Ignika tried to scan the memories once more and try to figure out the language used here, but it did not help. The spoken language remained a puzzle to it. Ignika heard someone move through the bushes. The body of the Mask tensed. It finally knew what was close. The familiar presence it had felt when it had first set a foot on dry land. That presence that had felt familiar to the presence of the creature it had saved in the lake, that same presence was now coming very close to Ignika. Sure enough, a figure appeared from behind a tree, bow in hand and arrow ready to be fired. Ready to be fired and hit Ignika.

Ignika was surprised at first. The newcomer was taller than it, but the Mask understood that. It understood that in this world, some creatures of the same species were smaller than others, at least if their ages differed. From the memories, the Mask had understood that in this world, a being's psychical appearance changes when time passes. It was a strange concept to the Mask, but then again, so much was strange to it. In silence, Ignika observed the newcomer. The creature looked a lot like the species of creatures Ignika tried to resemble, but there were some differences. Like, its ears were pointed. And though the creature still appeared young (judging from what memories could tell Ignika about such a thing), Ignika felt that its age was far older than its appearance would suggest…

_No, not it…_ The Mask thought. _This is a living being. Even in my world, living beings had genders. So this being, has to have one, too._ Ignika laid its gaze upon the newcomer once more. What gender could this being have? Memories were sifted again. Doing its very best, Ignika dived in the memories, focussing on members of the same species that looked different, focussing on the spoken language as well. It compared different memories, until it found something. Ignika could not be sure, but as far as memories told it, and as far as it could grasp this strange spoken language, the creatures it tried to resemble used 'boy' as a word for male. And this newcomer, he was a boy.

_Then what does that make me?_ Ignika wondered. _The creature I saved and based my body upon… It was a 'girl'… meaning female? Every living being has a gender. I am now living. I am no longer it, no, now I am 'she'. _

Satisfied with her newly discovered knowledge and gender, Ignika smiled. Facial expressions were a hard thing to pull off, but she thought that she smiled okay. So caught up was she in all her pondering, she did not notice the impatience and irritation of the newcomer. He did a step in Ignika's direction, never taking the aim of his arrow of her.

"I saw what you did no that beast." The stranger said. "You killed it by holding up your hand. No human has that power, let alone a human child. Perhaps you are not as innocent as you appear? Maybe you are a witch in disguise meaning to do harm?"

His eyes narrowed. Ignika was confused. She had not understood a word he had spoken. And not yet comfortable with spoken language herself, she said nothing in reply.

The confusion of the newcomer can be forgiven, of course. He did not see the powerful Mask of Life protect itself from the beast by killing it through sped up aging. No, all he had seen was an odd human girl, appearing no older than seven, killing a beast twice her size by holding up her hand. And then the ghastly appearance of the girl. Barefooted, white, long hair and skin as pale as that of a corpse, with sharp black eyes and a snow-white gown almost reaching to her ankles. Yes, the confusion and suspicion of the newcomer could certainly be forgiven.

Unfortunately, though his aggressive behaviour against Ignika could be understood by a normal living being, Ignika did not understand in the slightest. All she understood was that a creature that looked much like a member of the species Ignika herself tried to resemble, was speaking and behaving aggressively and hostile towards her. He had shot an arrow towards her, why? What had she done? It was very confusing. She glanced at the person, the second arrow still pointed on her and ready to be fired.

Perhaps it meant to do her harm, like that furry beast from earlier? In that case, she would defend herself, like she had defended herself against that beast. She had come here out of a desire for friendship. If this being decided to repay her with violence, if it proved to be an enemy and not an ally and friend, then there would be no choice for her but to kill him.

--

End of chapter 2. Ignika is now a she and has encountered someone (an Elf, but she doesn't know that yet). Next chapter you'll know if the Elf will behave as an enemy, causing his death, or not.

On the subject of spoken language, I am very aware that people don't speak english in ME. In the world Ignika was made in, they don't speak english either. But it is easier to write in english, so okay, the Elf appeared to speak english but he was not and Ignika appeared to think in english but she did not. Ignika can also not speak yet. Besides, she has to get a good grasp of the language, and there are many languages in ME (well, I at least know of 2) which will make it all the more confusing for her. None ever said living is easy.


	3. Welcome?

**3. Welcome?**

Ignika watched the male in front of her with confusion and uncertainty. Not too long ago, the Mask of Life had created a body for itself to see the world and to learn what it means to live. It had left the lake where it had rested for thousands of years and now had a body and had become a 'she' not 'it'. And then this male creature had appeared, pointing an arrow at her, ready to fire it with his bow. He talked hostile and violent to her. Why? Ignika was confused. She did not understand what she had done wrong to be treated as such. The fact that she did not have any knowledge of spoken language only added to her confusion. She was tensed and waited for the male creature to make a move. If he would attack her, she would kill him, if he did not, he was not an enemy and could perhaps be trusted.

"Speak. Who are you, why are you here? Where do you come from?!" The creature in front of her said, again on that harsh tone. The point of the arrow was still aimed at her. Ignika's eyes narrowed. She did not understand what he was saying, but judging from his tone and behaviour, he was not saying friendly words towards her. She had enough of this. It was clear he was an enemy and not an ally or possible friend. She had to get rid of him, but how? She didn't look forward to killing another living being. Maybe she could just weaken him, or create a guardian to hold him off long enough for her to leave. But if she did that, he would surely take her as an enemy, maybe tell others that she was an enemy and then it would be all the more hard to have friends and family.

Before Ignika could decide, somebody else arrived on the scene. It was another male creature with the same pointed ears as the other one. This was strange for Ignika. The creature that had fallen in the lake didn't have pointed ears, after all. And the other creatures Ignika had seen in memories did not either. Perhaps this was another species of living beings, one that just happened to closely resemble what ever kind of species Ignika now considered herself a part of?

"What is this, Gelluin? Why are you threatening a mere child?" The newcomer asked. Once again, Ignika could not understand a word that was spoken, but she felt that they were talking about her. Even when he gave his reply, the first male did not take the aim of his arrow off her.

"She is no mere child, my brother." He replied slowly. "I saw her kill a wolf by simply raising her hand. She could be a witch in disguise, or a spy of the Enemy."

The newcomer eyed Ignika carefully. She stared back, but calmed herself. She wasn't sure what was going on, but these two males seemed to know each other, and the newcomer so far hadn't made a hostile move to her yet. Maybe he would convince the other one to let her be?

"I find it impossible to tell the truth, my brother." The second male replied. "I have not seen her before and I know her not. Her presence doesn't even give me the feeling of that of a living being." He put his hand on the Gelluin's arm and made his brother lower his bow. "We shall take her to the village and take action there. It might very well be that she is a danger and that we'd have to kill her, but it might just as well be that she's innocent."

Slowly, Gelluin nodded, though the suspicion in his eyes never disappeared. The second male approached Ignika slowly, his hands slightly raised as if to show her he was unarmed for the moment. Ignika made no attempt to flee or go away, but she did remain cautious.

"Come with us, we will not harm you." The newcomer said to her. Ignika cocked her head to the side, giving the male a puzzled look. She did not understand him.

"The child does not seem to be able to speak or understand us, Elhonir." Gelluin told his brother. Elhonir nodded slowly, then asked the same question, but this time in a different language, the one used commonly by men. But still, the strange girl in front of him did not respond. Elhonir tried a few more times in what other languages he knew, but all just gave him the same result: a puzzled look from Ignika. Finally, with a sigh, he pointed at her and then mentioned her to follow. Ignika thought for a while, but then nodded. She was not certain she could trust these creatures, but it was best to go along. If she didn't, they might attack her and then she would have to kill them. Not something she was looking forward to doing. Perhaps they didn't mean to harm her after all, maybe they wanted to be friends with her.

And so Ignika followed the two creatures to wherever they would lead her. The first creature, the one who had attacked her with the arrow, walked in front, while the second one kept an eye on her from behind. While walking, Ignika noticed that the creatures moved with far more grace than she did. This could be, perhaps, because Ignika was still not fully sued to moving independently, or perhaps these creatures were just graceful in their movements by nature. While they walked, nothing was said. That did not really bother Ignika, for she could not understand spoken language anyway. This actually bothered her. The creatures of this world seemed to communicate by using spoken language. This had been the case in Ignika's homeworld too, but the language used there was entirely different than the one spoken here. Not being able to speak had already proven to Ignika to be a great handicap. A handicap she couldn't easily overcome. First she had to understand the language before learning to speak it. She had to learn it, for speaking would certainly be a great aid in learning how to live. Had she been able to speak, she might have been able to explain to the bow-wielding creature that she had meant no harm and had only come here out of the desire for friendship. If she had been able to explain that, perhaps it wouldn't have acted so hostile towards her.

The two males with pointed ears led Ignika to a village. In the trees. Again Ignika was struck with awe when she laid her gaze upon the new wonders all around her. Mighty constructions in the treetops, all different kinds of members of this strange race with pointed ears. Creatures all with different ages, bodies, length and so much more. Not a single one was the same. Again Ignika found herself overwhelmed by it all, so much she had to stop moving just to order all her thoughts.

Her two guides noticed it, but didn't immediately know how to react upon it. Gelluin constantly reminded himself this girl had killed an animal by doing as much as holding out her hand, and as of such, he was very wary and suspicious of her, despite her innocent, child-like appearance. Elhonir's attention was more drawn to the girl's amazed expression, which puzzled him a bit as well. Surely the girl had seen towns before? Or heard of these cities in the trees, made by the Elves, before? Yet when he looked upon the amazed and overwhelmed expression on her face, he wasn't so sure anymore. He decided it was best to be careful with this girl.

With some gentle persuading gestures, Elhonir managed to get Ignika to move again. The two elves brought Ignika to one particularly large house where they almost shoved her inside an empty room. With some gestures again, Elhonir made it clear to Ignika that she was to remain here. Then they left her all alone in the room. Ignika's head was spinning, her thoughts were a mess. She walked slowly to one of the corner's of the rooms and sat down. Ignika took a deep breath and sighed, though she did not know the meaning of doing so.

She had become uncertain of everything. At first she had believed living wouldn't be too hard. She had believed that making friends wouldn't be too hard. After all, she only had desires of friendship, nothing could be wrong with that, correct? Apparently not. First she had been attacked for a reason she still did not understand. Then she had been asked to come along and been shoved into this room. Why? She desperately scanned the memories she still had from the creature in the lake, hoping to find an explanation for this all, hoping to find the correct way to respond to this all. Alas, no such thing.

Had she made a wrong choice to leave the safety of the waters? No, of course she hadn't. She should have expected living and making friends wouldn't be as easy as it seemed on the surface. She would have to be patient and learn. Beginning with spoken language. Ignika was certain, that if she managed to overcome that barrier, it would be easier for her. But how do you speak? It was hard for the new being to know for certain. She scanned the memories again and again, observing and watching everything that had to do with speaking over and over again. Ignika paid attentions to certain sounds and listened which ones sounded alike to the language of her homeworld. If she could only do as much as speak her name…

Ignika tried and tried, but no sounds left her throat. Speaking was simply not something she knew how to do and learning it apparently wasn't easy either. Ignika sighed, the only sound she could make. She began to understand sighing was sometimes done when a being wants to express hopelessness, among other things. Ignika tried to examine the language spoken here and tried to understand it, but to no avail. As much as she searched the memories, it was never fully clear to her what word was used for what. Someone would have to help her. She hoped someone would be willing to help her. Part of the reason she had modelled her body after that of a young living creatures was that younger creatures were much more likely to be aided by older ones. They also made friends easier. At least, that's what Ignika believed. The reason Ignika appeared so pale and was dressed in white, she could not fully explain herself. Maybe it was because she had no real idea what the purpose of different colours in skin and hair was, so she had simply chosen the most neutral and simple colour: white.

The young 'girl' thought of what her next course of action should be. It had been made clear to her she was to remain here and that she was not trusted. Neither of those facts she liked, but she thought it was best not to react yet. Maybe the intentions of these creatures with pointed-ears were only hostile because they were uncertain how to act around her, not because they wanted to be hostile and aggressive towards her. Ignika hoped so, at least. Otherwise, she would have to get out of here and she knew she could, if she really wanted to. But for now Ignika decided it was best to do as she was told, maybe it would result in those creatures trusting her a bit more.

--

End of chapter 3. Next chapter Ignika will meat an Elf of the same gender as 'herself'.

On the subject of names, I know this is a very touchy subject. I didn't want to take 2 existing Elves for the sake of originality and also as to not mess up any of Tolkien's characters. I've checked a list of Elf names and tried to form 2 names that looked like Elf names. If I failed, please tell me how to correct it, thanks.


	4. Word

**4. Word**

Ignika sighed again. She was becoming bored but also – and that was probably worse – irritated. A long time had passed since she had been pushed in this room and nothing had happened. Through the strange transparent, cold surface that was placed inside a hole in the wall – a window, but Ignika didn't know that – she could see that it became darker outside. The day had almost passed. If nobody came to meet her before night had truly fallen, she would go. And when she would go, she would be angry, oh yes she would. This was not how her desires of friendship should be repaid! With darkened thoughts, Ignika waited, watching the sky turn dark blue and eventually black.

Night had fallen and still Ignika sat waiting. Enough was enough! The body of the Mask rose to her feet, face twisted with what Ignika supposed was an angry expression. She marched to the wooden door. She tried to open it, but found it was locked. That was no problem. Ignika hurled her powers of Life at the organic wood, speeding up its decaying processes until the door was a rotten heap on the floor. Satisfied, Ignika stepped out of her prison. Once outside, Ignika looked around, momentarily uncertain of her next course of action. The living beings here had proven to be enemies, not allies, so there was no point in staying. She looked around to find the way out of the village. That was not easy in the dark. Her body's eyes were made to be able to see during day, not night.

Slowly Ignika shuffled over the wooden pathways in the trees. She tried to remember which way she had used to get here and then walk that way in the opposite direction. She could feel the living beings all around her, but none too close to see her, or so she thought. She believed that if she could not see well in the dark, those living beings that looked like her could not either. And there was no moon tonight, which made it even darker. The perfect cover for Ignika. She would go away here and try to find friends and family elsewhere, for it was clear it could not be found here.

She descended the staircase that would lead her back to the forest floor. Ignika was pleased with herself, she had not been noticed so far. Soon she would be away from this bad place. Accidentally, Ignika stepped on a dried twig and it snapped in two. Startled, Ignika halted, but the damage had been done. She felt a presence turn in her direction and a voice call out.

"Who goes there?!"

Ignika did not answer, for she still had no grasp of spoken language. But even if she had been able to speak, she would not have answered. Ignoring the voice, she walked further down the stairs. Yet she was halted when an arrow flew straight past her, this time doing as much as scratching her pale left cheek, leaving a small cut in it. Blood began to appear in the small wound.

There was a long silence, then Ignika slowly turned and to the direction the arrow had come from. Slowly she lifted her hand and let her fingers brush against the small wound. It didn't really hurt, the wound had only shocked Ignika. Her thoughts where a maelstrom again. Why? That was the question that bothered her most of all. Why was she treated like this?! What had she done?! She saw one of those creatures with pointed ears appear on a tree branch above her. She saw his startled and confused face.

"It is you." He then said, surprised. "The child Gelluin and Elhonir brought here. Why are you outside?!"

Ignika did not understand a word of what he was saying, but she cared not. He had attacked her for no reason. He was an enemy, not worthy of the gift of Life. She would take it back! Ignika raised her hand and began to drain the Life out of the creature. At first he felt nothing, but he soon became weaker and weaker.

_No!_ The creature realized with a shock._ I'm dying!_

Soon he was so weak he fell from the tree and on the ground. Ignika watched with a mixture of pity and anger. She did not want to kill, that was wrong, but this was an enemy, Life's gift was too good for him. The figure managed to gather all his strength that remained in him to let out a loud cry, but she did not understand what he was saying. She cared not. However, another arrow hit the ground right in front of her feet. Startled, Ignika jumped back, her concentration broken. The Life-draining attack on the creature stopped. Life seeped back into him. Ignika looked around and saw many of these males with pointed ears, arrows all aimed at her.

_All enemies._ Ignika thought. _All of them attacking me for no reason. They are not worthy of the Gift of Life. I will have to take it back from all of them._

She wanted to unleash Life's power like she never had before, but more arrows distracted her long enough for a creature to leap down from the trees, grab her and pin her to a tree by her arms. She recognized him as the male that had attacked her earlier this day.

"Who are you?!" He shouted, angrily. "Why are you here?! And don't you dare using that Life-draining trick of yours again, or you'll regret it, you understand?!"

Ignika's eyes blazed, her breathing was rapid.

_So this…_ The new being thought. _This is what rage feels like!_

How could she best respond to this new emotion? Ignika swiftly scanned the memories of the creature from the lake to find the answer. Those memories told her that living beings commit acts of violence when enraged. Since she was now living, that was what Ignika would do.

But before any blow could be struck or any Life could be drained, another voice was head.

"Wait. Let her go, brother." Ignika looked up, past the male that now was slowly releasing her. This voice had not sounded male, so it had to be a voice belonging to one from the opposite gender, namely female. Two more figures appeared, one she recognized as the second male she had met today, the one that had not attacked her. The other was entirely different from any male she had seen so far. His hairs were longer, his face somewhat shaped differently, more slender. And he had two bumps on his chest. Ignika realized this was not a male, rather a girl, like herself.

"What are you doing here, Alwiniel?" Gelluin demanded. "This 'child' has proven to be an enemy, possibly a Spy from the Enemy! She nearly killed one of us!"

The female, Alwiniel, glanced at her older brother. "I have heard from Elhonir what has happened." She gave Ignika a brief glance. "She killed a wolf because it attacked her. She attacked the watchman because she felt he attacked her. She is but a child Gelluin, her views of the world are so different from ours."

Gelluin shook his head. "Agreed it might have been self-defence, but there is still something very wrong with this child. Why does she not speak? How did she kill that wolf and almost our watchman? A child of her age should know verbal communication and a child of her age can not possible posses the powers to defend herself by draining the Life out of her attackers."

The female creature simply smiled. "All good questions my brother, on which I know not the answer. But you won't find out by angering or threatening her, either."

"Then what do you suggest?" Gelluin demanded impatiently.

"Let me take care of her." Came the reply. "I am a woman as well, perhaps I'm better suited to find the answers on our questions. I do not guarantee success, but let me try, my brother."

Finally Gelluin gave in and he sighed deeply. "The responsibility is yours." He said, before disappearing with the others into the trees.

"Be careful, Alwiniel." Elhonir said to his sister, before leaving as well.

Ignika stared at the female in front of her. She had no idea what had been said just now, but at least the males had left. Now Ignika stood waiting, unsure of what to do. She could leave now. But the female in front of her looked at her with a strange gaze. A quick scan of the memories Ignika held, told her the female was gazing 'warmly' at her. That was a sign of friendliness. The female approached her, but Ignika did not stir, not even when the female kneeled and brought herself on eyelevel with Ignika. Alwiniel stared in Ignika's black eyes. And though she did not show it, she felt a bit uneasy. This girl's eyes had a blank stare, they were almost lifeless. But Alwiniel tried to ignore that and focus on trying to get the girl to trust her. Though Ignika's eyes betrayed little to no emotion, Alwiniel still felt – or believed at least – that this girl was confused and perhaps even frightened.

"I will not hurt you." She told Ignika, her voice gentle and soft. Ignika cocked her head to one side, blinking. She did not understand. Alwiniel sighed silently. Elhonir had told her of this girl's incapability to understand or speak any form of spoken language. This puzzled Alwiniel. She had spoken in Westron, the language most humans used, but this girl had not understood. How was this possible? This girl did not appear poor, so she should know how to speak, like every girl of her age. But apparently not.

Alwiniel pointed at Ignika. "Who are you?" She asked gently, making a puzzled expression as she spoke.

Ignika blinked again, but she thought she had understood the question. This female wished to know her name. Ignika wanted to answer. She moved her lips, but no sound came out. Frustrated, Ignika tried again. This time she focussed intensely on the memories of how speaking sounds, how every letter that made up Ignika's name was pronounced. In her mind Ignika repeated these letters. She combined them into one word until she was sure she had the right combination. She said it in her mind again, focussing this time on the memories on how the lips were to be moved when speaking the letters that made up her name. She repeated that again, this time doing her very best to move her lips in the same fashion. When Ignika was sure she had the correct pronunciation and correct lip-movements in her mind, she took a deep breath. Air was needed to make sounds, after all.

"I…" Startled by the first form of sound leaving her lips, Ignika stopped. She swallowed hard and looked at the female in front of her. Said female was giving her an encouraging look. Ignika took another deep breath. She could do this…

"Ignika." She then said, with a soft and almost genderless voice, while pointing at herself.

--

End of chapter 4. Next chapter, Ignika spends time with Alwiniel, who tries to teach her more of spoken language.


	5. Talking

**5. Talking**

Ignika pointed at a strange thing on the wall that showed her herself. She didn't know what it was or what it was called. In her universe, when one wished to look upon himself they would use crystal, ice or water. This thing, with a ring of wood around it, was nothing like those three. It was cool to touch, yes, but it reflected so much… clearer than crystal, ice or water would. She gave Alwiniel a puzzled look.

"Mirror." The female replied with a gentle smile. Ignika turned back to her reflection. Meanwhile, her mind was busy analysing what Alwiniel had just said. She focussed on the correct lip movements and the correct sounds. When she was certain she had everything right, she took a breath and repeated: "Mirror."

Alwiniel gave her an encouraging nod, which Ignika had learned meant that she had said it correctly. The girl was very excited about her new discovery of spoken language. It was hard when you had to say a word for the first time, Ignika knew, but once spoken correctly, she could say it again and again without too much thinking. She could say her own name with little to no effort at all. And that pleased her greatly.

--

Unknowingly to Ignika, Alwiniel was pleased as well. The child was learning quickly, the female thought. 'Ignika' appeared to understand rather easily, if explained with much care. She had learned the young girl a few more words and Ignika was eager to learn more, that much she could see. Alwiniel had been able to learn the girl her own name, had been able to – with lots of effort – been able to explain that she, Gelluin and Elhonir and all the others were 'Elves' and that the Elves considered Ignika to be part of the race they called 'Men' or 'Humans'. Alwiniel taught the child some other words as well. This Ignika girl seemed to have been unable to speak up until she told Alwiniel her name, but she seemed very eager to learn spoken language just as well.

But there were many things about this mysterious child that still confused Alwiniel just as well. Though the child would be able to speak if she was tutored, she still seemed amazed or confused by things every human child her age should know. Take that mirror for an instance. Ignika had eyed it with amazement as if she didn't know what it was. Alwiniel started to believe the girl really had no idea what a mirror was. At least she hadn't been frightened by her own reflection. It was strange. Ignika seemed to understand the concept of reflections, but did not know what a mirror was. Even the simplest things like a bed had the girl puzzled. And then those eyes, the clothing, the colour of her hair and skin. Alwiniel found herself intrigued, maybe even a little fascinated, with a human for the first time in so many years. A normal human simply does not have white hair, pale skin and black, expressionless eyes.

And then there were those powers of her. That a girl looked like Ignika did perhaps could be explained by something that went wrong during pregnancy or whatever. But, no matter how you twisted or turned it, a child having the power to do with Life as she pleases was _not_ normal. It almost frightened Alwiniel. But she had realized Ignika only seemed to use her power when she felt threatened or endangered. Self-defence. But it was still not normal. Alwiniel did not think the child was a danger in disguise or perhaps even a spy of the Enemy. There was no doubt about the fact that Ignika was what she looked like: a human child, albeit an odd one.

--

A knock on the door made Ignika tear her gaze away from her own reflection to see what was going on. She saw the female speak briefly with a male 'Elf'. The female, who was named Alwiniel, had taught Ignika that she was different from them. Because Ignika was what was considered a 'human' and Alwiniel and the others were 'Elves'. It had taken Alwiniel a lot of effort to make Ignika understand that and in fact, Ignika was still a bit confused by it. Why was she considered from a different race just because her ears weren't pointed? Maybe there were some other differences between Elves and Humans. Differences Ignika hoped to learn. But first she had to learn more of spoken language. She looked around the room, observing what things she did not know the name or pronunciation of.

Alwiniel approached her and Ignika gave the Elf a curious look.

"Ignika, you must be hungry. We have been so kind to prepare a meal for you." The female Elf said. Ignika blinked. She hadn't understood much of what had been said. Truth to be told, she had only understood her own name. With a sigh, Alwiniel mentioned Ignika to come along. Ignika, curious, obeyed and walked after the Elf. Alwiniel sighed. She knew the child could not help it, but the Elf was getting pretty tired by having to resort to gestures to make something clear. Spending time with this child was, too say the least, wearing her out.

It was a simple meal and not fully intended to serve as dinner. The child was strange, that much almost every Elf who had seen her knew by now. Alwiniel's brothers had decided to see what the child knew and what she did not. Speaking and talking were obviously a problem, though it appeared the child could learn that. But what about eating? Sleeping? And all other things that are so natural to do? The child had not eaten since her arrival in Mirkwood and she didn't appear hungry. Her stomach hadn't rumbled at all. She had just walked around in Alwiniel's company, looking around and asking Alwiniel for the name and pronunciation of everything she saw.

Ignika eyed the table with the food carefully, but intrigued. What was expected of her? she wondered. Alwiniel guided her gently to the table and made Ignika sit down on a chair, the food in front of her. Memories were sifted. This whole scene seemed familiar. Ignika was sure she had seen a situation like this in the memories before. She scanned them and indeed, the table with the strange objects on it were familiar to her. After looking through her memories a bit more, she knew what she had to do. She glanced at Alwiniel.

"It's okay." The Elf said. "Eat."

Ignika turned back to her food. She hadn't understood the words, but she felt Alwiniel had given her permission to do what she suspected she had to do. Ignika took the spoon to the right of her bowl in her hand and brought some of the strange liquid in the bowl – a simple soup, but Ignika had no idea what it was – and placed it in her mouth. She calmly swallowed the warm liquid and felt it running down to he body's stomach.

Ignika knew what this was supposed to be. Even in her home universe, there had been organic creatures that had kept their energy level high by devouring things. In the memories, she had seen that this was a very common thing to do for every being in this world. This was eating, Ignika realized. It did not feel wrong. Every living being ate, at least here. And she was living now, so she would eat when it was time to do so.

She drank the rest of the soup, enjoying its taste. At first, the taste had surprised her, since she was not used at all to 'tasting'. This liquid tasted strange, but not bad. And the more she drank, the more she came to like the taste. In her memories, Ignika saw that there were many things that could be eaten. Things that had to be eaten differently than the soup she was devouring now. She was happy she had discovered another things living beings did, and even more happy that she managed to do it as well. Ignika knew eating was supposed to keep the energy of a living being high enough to function, but Ignika's body was different. It was shaped as closely as possible to a normal human body, but some things were so complex and Ignika did not understand their meaning that upon creation, she had altered some of the functions of certain body parts. She had lungs to give her body air, a stomach where the food she ate would arrive. But her digestion was entirely different. Used to the ways of her home universe, Ignika's inner body transferred the food to pure energy to strengthen the molecules of her body. No waste came forth from that, so that was something Ignika would not need to attend to either.

Of course, Alwiniel or any other Elf or living being for that matter, could see this. All the Elves saw at this moment was that the strange child was eating and they could only take that as a good sign.

--

End of chapter 5. Next chapter more things will happen.

On the subject of Ignika's body, perhaps it needs some explanation. On the outside and inside, Ignika pretty much has everything a normal human has. However, some functions may differ, like for example how Igniak digests food. The explanation seems obvious enough: this is Middle-Earth, not Earth 2008. I'm pretty sure Elves nor humans had knowledge of everything that was going on in our organs, blood or lungs. Like our natural defence system and all that concerns it, Tolkien did not mention (I think) anywhere if the population of ME knew how it all exactly worked. Now if the people of ME don't know, how in the world should a mask that comes from a world where bodies work entirely differently know? Ignika kept the noticeable things in mind when building her body: she knew bodies had blood so she made that. She knew organs had to be present, and hair and face and so on. What Ignika does not know and can't understand is how all that works or what the function of it all is. So her body works differently from a normal one, even if the inside and outside look exactly the same as a normal human body.


	6. Leaving

**6. Leaving**

"Ignika go." The white-haired body of the Mask announced one morning, surprising Alwiniel. But the little girl looked dead serious. The Elf wasn't fully sure if she fully understood what Ignika wanted. It had been almost two weeks since Ignika had first uttered her own name and the child had made progress with her spoken language. But the child had still quite some limits on her speech. She spoke in broken, short sentences and tenses and verbs were utterly lost on her. Alwiniel hadn't said much of it, not wanting to discourage the young girl. After all, it was obvious the human child was doing her best to learn.

But still, despite all of Ignika's progress, Alwiniel wasn't sure what the child meant by 'go'. Alwiniel knew for sure she didn't mean 'go' in the bathroom-related sense of the word. Alwiniel and the other Elves had been quite baffled by the fact that Ignika never seemed to have to tend to waste-related activities. Or that she never truly seemed to get dirty, as if her skin and clothes rejected all dirt. And in the two weeks the odd girl had been with these Elves, her nails or hair hadn't grown in the slightest. Yes, there was in fact, quite a lot about this human child that seemed unnatural to the Elves. Some had even began to wonder if Ignika was human at all. Even Alwiniel had to admit the thought had crossed her mind, as odd as it seemed.

Then what did this strange child mean by 'go'? Did she want to go somewhere? Or, the thought made Alwiniel uncomfortable, did she mean to leave this city and go somewhere else entirely? With a kind smile, she turned to the white-haired child.

"Go where, Ignika?"

The child frowned, as if searching for the words she knew and could use to explain what she wanted.

"Go." Ignika then said, making a discarding motion with her pale hands. Alwiniel now was almost sure of it the child meant to leave the Elves, perhaps forever, perhaps she just wanted to explore the forest a bit.

"Do you mean to leave us, Ignika?" Alwiniel asked, still with her kind voice. Experience had thought her anger, frustration or loosing her patience were not good emotions to display around Ignika, for the girl seemed to react to them with a form of panic and anger. And Alwiniel by now knew all too well what the girl was capable of.

It didn't make sense to any of the Elves how this child seemed to have the ability to do with Life as she pleased. Gelluin had witnessed how this child had killed a wolf by holding up her hand. She had broken out of the room she was locked in by making the door decay at rapid speed. She had almost fully drained all life energy out of one of the guard and later, Alwiniel had seen her making a small plant grow rapidly to become a beautiful flower. She never spoke with Ignika about this, or asked questions, but it was a bit unsettling. Some Elves even found it frightening. By now Alwiniel of course had realized Ignika used whatever power she had against others only when she felt threatened or endangered. That was why patience, kindness and warm feelings were the best things to approach this child with.

Slowly Ignika nodded. She believed she had understood enough of what Alwiniel had said to assume the female understood that Ignika wanted to leave here and go somewhere else. It was not that she wasn't well-treated here, but Ignika knew for herself that she could not find friends and family here. These beings were simply too distant. She wondered if that was because she was human and they were elves, but regardless of that, there was nothing that kept her here. She had stayed for a while so she could learn more of spoken language, but now Ignika had enough of it. She longed to see different places than her wooden chamber. She knew this world had many wonders and she wanted to see them. She would not be able to do that by remaining here. Ignika wanted to find other humans as well. Maybe she would feel more accepted and welcome among others of 'her' race than with these elves.

"Ignika leave." The child repeated, a bit more sternly than before. "Leave elves. Find men." Inside, Ignika prayed she had said the correct words. The Mask had a fantastic memory, but she was still uncertain about handling this strange spoken language, despite her progress.

Alwiniel sighed. She understood perfectly what Ignika wanted. But she wasn't sure if she could just allow that. After all, the child was strange in many ways and possibly a danger, even if the child didn't mean to be one. She wasn't sure if the other elves would allow it, as well. However, Alwiniel knew just as well that should she try to prevent Ignika from doing what she wanted, the child would be tempted to use her strange, Life-threatening power. The Elf knew perfectly that alone, she would have no chance to survive Ignika's anger. So instead of trying to change the child's mind, Alwiniel asked:

"Are you certain?"

Ignika nodded. She had no desire to stay any longer. She had made up her mind about that the former evening. She placed her strangely empty gaze on Alwiniel, awaiting the Elf's next action. Alwiniel knew she was beaten. It was perfectly clear Ignika wanted to leave right now and would not hear about any delays.

"Then I have no choice but to let you go." She admitted with a sigh. Ignika's face formed a smile. She started to walk towards the door, but Alwiniel stopped her gently.

"Don't you at least want to eat something before you go, Ignika?"

Ignika frowned. Understanding words was one thing, but long sentences still posed a problem at times for the Mask. Still, she had understood 'you' and 'eat' so she was pretty sure of what Alwiniel had said. Ignika shook her head. There was no reason to eat, her body was still energized from the food of the former evening. In fact, Ignika found that she was fed way too often. Her body was full of energy, why would she have to add more to it by eating when that was not needed? But because she had not wanted to anger her hosts, she had never said anything about it – if she had had the necessary vocabulary to say anything about it, that is.

Alwiniel smiled sadly when Ignika shook her head to decline her offer. It seemed that once made up, nothing would change the child's mind. If she wanted something, she would get it right away. If she wanted to do something, she would do it right away without wasting any second.

She approached the white-haired child and took her hand. Sure Alwiniel might let Ignika go – it wasn't as if she could stop the child even if she wanted to – but the other elves might try. And she feared what Ignika might do to any who stood in her way and would try to make her stay forcefully. So she decided to accompany the child until she was out of the city ad told Ignika so. The child made no complaints.

In silence the pair made their way down the spiralling stairway around the tree trunk that led down to the forest floor. Ignika's mind was full of happy thoughts, thinking about what she would do once she was away from here, where she would or could go to. But Alwiniel's mind was troubled. There was no point in trying to prevent the child from leaving, she told herself again. But how would she explain this to her brothers? Heck, how would she explain this to herself? For her, a woman, letting a young child –even a child with unusual powers concerning all forms of Life – go away all on its own seemed very irresponsible, perhaps even cruel. A sigh escaped the Elf's lips, but Ignika paid no heed, she was too busy happily walking down the stairs.

Once they reached the forest floor, Alwiniel let go of Ignika's pale hand. The Elf eyed the girl with a bit of sadness in her gaze.

"Well young one, you can go now wherever your feet will take you to." She told Ignika softly. The child eagerly nodded, then turned around and walked away without a word. After a few steps, though, she stopped. It didn't seem proper to leave without saying a word, Ignika thought. After all, even though she didn't feel welcome or accepted here, these 'Elves' had still gave her a 'home' and food. Even thought her how to speak… Ignika couldn't just ignore these gestures of kindness. She turned to Alwiniel one last time. Then, Ignika took a deep breath and said, as well as she could: "Thank you."

--

End of Chapter 6.

The reason I wanted Ignika to leave is that I was pretty much tired of writing about Elves. It's time Ignika met some humans and slowly but surely got a real home and family. Next chapter, she'll meet some real humans and other 'children'. Should be interesting. How will Ignika react to requests to play with the other children?

I've also decided that this story will be 10 chapters long in total. So only 4 more chapters and it's done.


	7. Home?

**7. Home?**

This organic world held many wonders. And Ignika marvelled at every one of them. It had been more than a few weeks by now since she had left the forest and those 'elves'. The body of the Mask had not regretted her decision for a moment. There was plenty to be seen, plenty to experience. After a few days of travelling in no particular direction, Ignika had winded up out of the forest. She had wandered near the edge of the forest for a long time, until the forest had ended and there were just great plains that seemingly went on forever. The Mask hadn't minded that, it was a nice change of scenery.

It was not like endless fields of grass were boring in any way, anyway. Seeing as it was a completely different environment than a forest, all that lived there and all that was going on there was totally different from what Ignika had so far experienced. She spend days looking around, examining everything new she found and be amazed and intrigued by it.

Eventually, Ignika had come across a river. A rather large river. In fact, a really great river. Not feeling like crossing it at the moment she first saw the water, Ignika instead decided to follow the river downstream, figuring that life near a river would be different from life on fields of grass or life in a forest. And new life, that was something the Mask was very interested in. She longed to see it all and experience it all.

However, there was one thing that saddened Ignika a bit. As fun and interesting discovering the wonders of this world was… She still wanted to meet others of her 'kind'. And in all those weeks, she had not come across any living being that resembled her in even the slightest way. When the Mask had created its body, it hadn't expected that finding friends and family would be this hard.

So caught up in her pondering Ignika was, that she didn't notice where her feet took her. When she finally did look up, however, she noticed the river flowed slower here, and the water was much less deep as well. Ignika looked at the other side of the river. It didn't seem that different from this side. On the other hand, she had not found friends and family on this side. Perhaps on the other side?

Hesitatingly, Ignika placed a foot in the water. She almost immediately withdrew it. The water was cold. Very cold. Colder than the waters of the lake she had emerged from. And water was wet. When she had just been the Mask of Life, wetness and cold had never bothered her. But now she had a body, now she was a living being. And as a living being, she preferred staying dry and warm. But staying dry and warm would not get her to the other side. And she really wanted to go to the other side. So, despite the water being cold and wet, Ignika waded into it and started walking straight through the river to the other side. At one point the water almost came up to her neck, but she kept moving until finally, Ignika stood on the other side.

She smiled with satisfaction, proud of what she had just done. It was a personal victory for the Mask, or so she liked to think. And her wet skin and dress, the sun would dry those soon enough. Now however, Ignika came upon another problem. She had gone to the other side. Now what? Would she follow the river again, or leave it behind her and go onto the lush green fields of grass beyond the river? Both decisions would have consequences and both held the possibility of meeting other 'human' beings.

It took her a while to reach a decision. After all, the Mask of Life had never had o ponder about decisions such as these. When she had just been a Mask, things like wondering which direction she would go in were not important to her at all. When she had just been the Mask, she had stayed in one place until somebody carried her to where the one who carried her wanted to take her. But now she had a body. Now she could move independently. Now she could decide for herself where to go. She _had_ to decide for herself where to go. That was part of being a living being, or so she believed.

Eventually, Ignika decided to leave the river behind her. The river was, after all, water. Cold and wet water. The fields of grass were dry and warm. And though water was not bad, Ignika preferred being dry and warm. The river would not give her that, the plains would, however. And maybe, other humans like her preferred being dry and warm as well. And if that was the case, she would not find other humans here by the river, but on the plains. Pleased that she had been able to figure that out, Ignika left the riverside and walked into the plains. Being a living being came with all kinds of problems, but solving those problems gave her a feeling of satisfaction and that felt okay. Because of that, Ignika enjoyed living. Living was good. She could now experience all these wonders of this world and maybe even get friends and family.

--

At first, Ignika wasn't sure what it was. From in the distance, it didn't look like much. But the sight had intrigued her and she had walked towards it. And as she came closer and closer, she could see more clearly what it was. And she felt excited. She had found them. This was a… 'village', yes, that was the word. And a village was a place inhabited by other living beings. And in this case, it seemed to be inhabited by 'humans'. She had found her own kind. Eagerly, Ignika increased the pace of her walking.

When she was close enough to see the living beings of the 'village' clearly enough, Ignika stopped. These were humans, they had to be. Their ears were not pointed, just like hers were not pointed either. Also, the Life she sensed in them didn't feel as 'ageless' as the Life of the Elves had been. Yes, these living creatures had to be humans, like her. Still, Ignika was now hesitant to approach them. She remembered her first encounter with the Elves and how hostile they had first acted towards her. That had not felt pleasant and Ignika feared it would be the same here.

The body of the Mask looked around, then noticed a group of Men just outside the village. They weren't as large as the other humans. Their heights and lengths varied, but they were all roughly as large as Ignika was. Ignika wondered if these were 'children'. She knew from her experiences with the Elves that she would be considered a 'child' even among humans. And a 'child' apparently was just a young human. Maybe she should go and meet these children first. Being a child herself, they might not welcome her hostile, but friendly. Yes, that made sense. And it seemed safe enough to Ignika.

Hesitatingly, Ignika made her way towards the group of children. She did not know what they were doing. They were running around, rolling over the ground, laughing and much more. Ignika did not know what this behaviour was supposed to be. She recalled from the memories of the child from the lake – by now Ignika had realized that the being she saved was a human child – that what these children were doing was in fact something all children liked to do. Puzzled, Ignika wondered if she was supposed to like it too. She didn't know. She had never done anything like what those children were doing now. She didn't even know what it was called. But she did want to find out.

At first, they did not notice her, too caught up in whatever it was they were doing. But as she got closer, one of them, who looked like a girl to Ignika, did see her and informed her fellow children. Gazes were now placed upon the body of the Mask. Ignika held her breath as one of them approached her slowly. How would they react to her presence? How would they welcome her, if they would welcome her at all?

--

End of Chapter 7.

So now Ignika has found other humans and has approached a group of children. How will they react to her? And how will Ignika react to the request to play with them? Personally, I think that that will be an interesting thing to write about, but whatever...


	8. Playing

**8. Playing**

Ignika waited in silence as she watched the child approach her. It was a boy, a 'he' and he didn't look much older than people would assume Ignika to be. He was a bit taller than her, though. His eyes had something innocent and he observed her with childish curiosity. Ignika tensed. What would he say? Would she be able to understand him? What would he do? Would he chase her away? Would he welcome her to stay?

The boy seemed to observe her and there was a silence that lasted too long for Ignika, but she dared not speak, afraid to mess up. She gave him an unsure look. After a while, the boy shrugged and smiled at her. With a young voice, he asked gently: "Play with us?"

Ignika's eyes widened upon hearing the question. She had expected anything, but not this. Partly, because she didn't understand the word 'play'. What did it mean? What did they want of her? Confused, she looked at him, then asked: "Play?"

Misunderstanding her question, the boy nodded eagerly. He didn't understand that Ignika asked for the meaning of the word 'play' or for an explanation of what playing was. He grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her towards the others. Too startled by this unexpected behaviour, Ignika couldn't react. "Play tag with us, it's more fun when you're with more."

Again, Ignika didn't fully understand. The language was different than from what she had learned, but not very much so she was able to recognize most words. However, the meaning of the word 'tag' eluded her. "Tag?"

"Yes, tag! Haven't you played that before?" The child asked her, puzzled. Ignika shook her head. She didn't even know what playing was. The boy seemed unfazed and just happily started telling her how to 'play' 'tag'. Ignika didn't understand it, both because the language was a bit different from what she had been taught and because the child used words Ignika did not understand or know yet. Regardless, she followed him to the other children. He had welcomed her friendly and even asked her to… play with him and the others. He seemed nice enough to Ignika.

She observed him as they continued walking to the other children. The skin of these children was a darker shade than hers. They all had different hair colours as well, and none of them had white hair like Ignika did. The clothing they wore was very different from Ignika's as well, and different from the Elves' too. From the memories, Ignika could tell that all these differences were normal, however.

By now they had reached the other children. "Can she play with us?" The boy asked the other children. A girl that appeared younger than Ignika frowned.

"You know mommy told us not to play with strangers."

"But she's all alone, I think." He turned to Ignika. "You are alone, aren't you?"

Ignika analyzed the words in her mind, pondering their meaning. Then she nodded. She was, or had been at least, alone, right?

"See?" The boy smiled, unaware of Ignika's pondering. "Mommy also told us to take care of people who are lonely."

"Fine, she can play with us." Another boy, older than the one who had greeted Ignika, said. "But if we get in trouble, it'll be your fault."

The boy didn't seem to mind that. He looked at Ignika again, but she just had a puzzled look on her face. She hadn't understood much of the discussion between the children. Their language was a bit of a blockade for Ignika to fully understand them. Some of the words were familiar enough for her to understand, others weren't, or weren't because of the fact that she still hadn't fully mastered the language Alwiniel had taught her.

"Don't worry, they'll like you once they see you just want to play with us." The boy wanted to say her name, but then realized he didn't know it. "What's your name?"

Ignika cocked her head to one side, giving the boy a thoughtful look. She had understood the word 'name' at least. And one of the other words sounded a lot like 'you'. Did he want to know her name? She pointed at herself and said: "Ignika."

The boy smiled and nodded. Ignika wanted to know his name. She pointed at him and asked, hoping she said the right word: "Name?"

"Folcwine." The boy replied, pointing at himself in a way similar to how Ignika had pointed at herself. Now it was Ignika who nodded, though she did so slowly. She silently repeated the name, which sounded strange to her, like many names in this world.

Again, Folcwine did not seem aware of Ignika's pondering. He was starting to get a bit impatient, wanting to just continue playing. But on the other hand, the young child was fascinated with his new friend as well. Ignika, what kind of name was that? And this girl behaved so strange as well, not to mention how strange her appearance was. Barefooted, completely white and pale except for her eyes. Even her eyes were weird. They seemed so… lifeless. Her language was broken as well, or so he believed. Ignika seemed unable to speak fluently or in long sentences. Judging by what little he had heard her say, however, the boy had concluded that this girl spoke the Common Tongue. That was fine, he knew a bit of it.

He put his thoughts away. He wanted to play, like any normal child. He turned to his friends and they continued playing, ignoring the fact for now that Ignika was a stranger. She was a child, like they were. It would be wrong to not let her play with them.

--

Ignika watched the children run around and play. She was fascinated with this behaviour. It was all totally new for her. So new in fact, that the feelings overwhelmed her and rendered her unable to act for a long time. She didn't fully understand the purpose of playing either, or the rules of this 'game' the children around her were playing. She observed them, however, and tried to figure it out. All children were running around randomly at first glance. But upon closer inspection, Ignika realized that all of them were running away, except for one child. That one child chased the others and tried to do something. Ignika did not know what at first. Then the child who was chasing managed to tag one of the other children. He stopped chasing and ran away. Confused at first, Ignika observed how the child that had been tagged now started to chase the other children. When that child tagged another one again, it stopped chasing as well and started running away from the child it had just tagged. Ignika began to understand, or at least she thought she did.

She felt someone poking her on the shoulder. She turned around slowly and noticed it was the child whose turn it was to chase. He ran away from her as soon as he had touched her. Ignika believed that it was now her turn to chase the other children and try to touch one of them. As the Mask willed her body to run, the other children started running away from her. Ignika smiled. That meant she was 'playing' this 'game' like it was supposed to be played.

She noticed Folcwine and decided she would try and touch him. Running was not that easy. Up until now, Ignika had almost always walked calmly and steadily, never running. Running gave her less balance than just walking did. So it took Ignika a while before she managed to tag Folcwine, for she first had to get used to the feeling of running around a lot. But once she was used to it, Ignika played along with the other children. She did not make many sounds during the game, while the other children did. They laughed and giggled. But they did not seem to mind that Ignika acted differently during the game. That made Ignika happy. She did not understand the purpose of 'playing', but she did enjoy playing. For it made her feel more like a living being than she had ever felt before.

--

End of Chapter 8.


	9. Friends

**9. Friends**

Ignika stood and wondered what would happen next. The other children were sitting on the grass, breathing rather heavily. They seemed exhausted from playing. Ignika wasn't breathing any faster than normal. The Mask's body was, after all, not exactly normal. It was still full of energy, the playing having used only a bit of the energy inside her that was needed to make the body respond to her will. Ignika waited, not saying anything. The playing had been fun, at least she liked to think so. She did not know how long they had played, but that didn't really matter. She had been tagged four times but had always managed to tag someone else again. It gave her a feeling of satisfaction.

Folcwine was the first to speak up again. "See? I told you she just wanted to play with us." He gave Ignika a brief glance.

"You're right." The girl who appeared five year old replied. "It was fun."

"If a bit odd." One of the other children chimed in. "At first it looked like you had never played with anybody before, Ignika."

The other children, even Folcwine, had to admit that there was truth in those words. They looked at Ignika, wondering what her response would be. But the body of the Mask just stood there, a thoughtful frown on her pale face.

Ignika heard her name being called and that told her that the sentence before her name had been addressed to her. She was now very busy examining the sentence and trying to figure out its meaning. It took her a while, for the meaning of some words was completely lost to her. Ignika felt confused by all these languages. The Elves had spoken a different language among themselves than the language Alwiniel had taught her, and now these children too, appeared to have a different language. Why was that? Why didn't all beings here simply speak the same language, like in her home universe? Wasn't that much easier?

Folcwine thought he understood Ignika's problems. She seemed to be struggling with the language, for when she looked up to the children again, her expression was one of somebody who is totally lost. "I think Ignika doesn't understand Rohirric, or not fully at least." He said with the best Westron he could muster. Ignika's face brightened at hearing more familiar words. At least she could understand this Folcwine. She nodded, to indicate that what he had just said was correct.

"That's strange." The five year old girl, whose name was Léofwyn, muttered. "Where do you come from, Ignika?"

Ignika understood that question, if just barely. She wondered what she should say. She couldn't possibly tell these children that she came from a different world and was in fact just a Mask with a body. "Nowhere." She finally replied with her quiet, almost genderless voice.

The children exchanged looks upon hearing this answer. They were becoming quite confused by their strange new companion.

"What about your parents?" Folcwine asked gently. "Where are they?"

Ignika shook her head. "No parents."

"Oh." The boy muttered quietly. The other children became quiet as well, compassion appearing in their eyes. Not so long ago, some of these children had lost one or both of their parents, when the armies of Isengard had invaded their homeland. Because of this, the children assumed Ignika had lost her parents in a similar fashion, never suspecting the truth.

"So you came here all by yourself? There's nobody with you?" Folcwine asked again.

"Ignika alone." The white-haired girl simply replied, not quite understanding why they all looked at her with so much compassion. Was this because she had no parents? Was that why they seemed to feel so sorry for her? It was possible, Ignika thought. After all, from her memories, Ignika had learned that in this world, every living being was supposed to have parents. Or at least almost every living being.

--

After a while, the children had decided to go home. Ignika wasn't sure what she would do once the children were gone, but to her surprise, Folcwine grabbed her by the hand and smiled. Ignika gave him a puzzled look.

"Why don't you come with me, Ignika? You don't have anywhere to go, do you?"

Ignika shook her head. No, she didn't really have any place where she _had_ to go to. But where would he want to take her to? His home? She decided to ask.

"With you? To where?"

Folcwine kept smiling. "To my home of course. You don't have a home and you don't have parents, I'm sure mommy wouldn't mind if I brought you with me to have a place to stay."

That had been a very long sentence. Ignika struggled to analyze it and fully understand what the boy had just told her. She still didn't understand some words, so that hindered her understanding a lot. Folcwine however, wasn't going to wait until she was done analyzing his words. Still holding her hand, he took her with him towards the village and the house where he lived.

--

The first thing Ignika noticed upon entering the village was that most houses were actually damaged and being repaired. Ignika wasn't sure what exactly had damaged them, though because of the black, burned look of some of the fully ruined houses, she realized it had probably been fire. The body of the Mask briefly wondered what had caused the fire. There were a lot of adult humans busy repairing their houses. Ignika would have stopped to watch how they did that, if Folcwine hadn't continued taking her with him. Ignika briefly considered tearing herself loose so she could explore, but then decided not to do that. This boy had welcomed her and was friendly to her. If she did not go with him now, she might anger him and Ignika didn't want to do that.

"Well, here we are." Folcwine announced, tearing Ignika's attention away from the world around her. She looked at the house they were standing in front of. It was quite large and made out of wood, with some sort of dried plants used for the roof. It wasn't as stylish as the tree-houses of the Elves had been, but Ignika still found herself appreciating the simpler but nonetheless graceful design.

Folcwine opened the door and led her inside. He told her to wait where she was and then he disappeared in one of the house's rooms. This gave Ignika time to look around. The floor under her bare feet was made of wood, just like about everything in the house. The wood under her feet wasn't rough, it felt rather… polished? She wasn't sure if that was the word. Regardless, the floor looked quite new and felt smooth and that suited Ignika fine. She looked around some more, this time focussing on the furniture. It too, wasn't as graceful or stylish as that of the Elves, but it looked fine just as well. Truly, Ignika felt no need for the Elves' style of things. Luxury was a word with a meaning that completely eluded the Mask. This house was fine and she thought she understood why Folcwine had been so exited to take her here. To Ignika, he had the right to be proud.

Before she had the time to look around some more, she heard noises in one of the rooms, coming her way. Soon enough, Folcwine reappeared, accompanied by another person. That person was a tall female, obviously an adult. She had black hair and brown eyes. Her skin was like Folcwine's, a darker shade than Ignika's skin. The woman wore a simple brown robe and some sort of footwear, but Ignika couldn't see those clearly because the woman's feet were partly covered by her robe.

"Mother" Folcwine said gently. "This is my new friend, Ignika."

Ignika became somewhat lost in the moment. She didn't hear the sounds outside anymore, and she barely noticed Folcwine's mother observing her thoughtfully. Some sort of warm feeling was spreading through Ignika's body. At first she didn't know what it was. But then she realized that it was happiness. And she also knew where that feeling had come from. Folcwine had called her his friend… She had a friend!

--

End of Chapter 9.

In case you still haven't figured it out, Ignika's in Rohan. I've looked up information of Rohan on the Internet to try and write an accurate view of the land of the Rohirrim. I even looked up names used in Rohan and some information about their language. I hope I did okay.


	10. Family

**10. Family**

After Ignika overcame her excitement of having a friend, she noticed Folcwine's mother observing her thoughtfully. Ignika became a bit nervous. Folcwine could want to be Ignika's friend, but what if his mother did not approve? From the memories, Ignika knew that children were supposed to obey their parents. So if Folcwine's mother told her son to not be friends with Ignika, he would have to do so, right? Nervously, silently hoping she would not loose her first friend, Ignika waited until the older woman before her spoke.

Folcwine's mother, who went by the name of Gléofwyn, was confused. She studied the girl her son had brought with him. She was unlike anything Gléofwyn had ever seen. The child looked human enough, but there was something, something about that girl that made Gléofwyn hesitated to call this being a child, or even human. Add to that that there were no humans, save some exceptional cases, with white hair or skin as pale as this girl's, and one could easily understand Gléofwyn's confusion.

The woman of Rohan did see, however, that her son had taken a liking to this girl. She could at least try to be friendly towards this child and welcome her. Of course she would first ask the girl some basic questions, just to make sure this girl was no enemy. Gléofwyn could not deny, however, that even though this girl gave her a weird impression, she did not seem like an enemy. Gléofwyn knew enemies could be deceiving, but none would take on such an odd disguise. Any human would be wary or confused by this girl and thus not the smartest disguise for an enemy.

Giving Ignika a friendly smile, Gléofwyn introduced herself and beckoned the child to come further inside.

--

Ignika was happy. Very happy. Not only had she made her first friend today, she now also had a 'home' were she felt comfortable! Folcwine's mother, who Ignika had learned was called Gléofwyn had asked her the same questions as Folcwine had, and even some more, and Ignika had told her the same honest answers she had given Folcwine. She wasn't sure if Gléofwyn believed her, but at least the woman had not chased her away. She had even welcomed her to stay! Ignika was more than happy to accept that invitation. Now that she had a friend, she wanted to stay with him and spent much time with him – the Mask believed that was how one was supposed to 'do' a friendship – and living with him in the same house would enable her to do that!

At this moment though, Ignika was also confused. The day was nearing its end and after playing around outside some more, Folcwine and Ignika had gone inside to eat and then to go to sleep. However, Gléofwyn had told the two children to first take a 'bath' before they ate. And now there was the problem Ignika was facing: what was 'taking a bath'? What was she supposed to do? The Elves never had told her to do anything like that. She looked in her memories, but wasn't sure if what she found there was what Gléofwyn told her to do. Ignika realized there was only one option left. Nervously and shyly, she shuffled to Gléofwyn, who was busy preparing a meal, and tugged at the woman's sleeve.

Gléofwyn looked at Ignika, confused. "What is it, Ignika?" She asked in Westron. Folcwine had told her that all Ignika seemed to speak was broken Westron.

"What 'taking a bath'?" Ignika asked shyly. She looked quite cute when asking that innocent question. Gléofwyn's eyes widened. Did this child mean to say she did not know what taking a bath was?

"You mean you don't know what a bath is, Ignika?" The woman of Rohan said.

Ignika shook her head. She had no idea. Gléofwyn was dumbstruck for a while. Where did this child come from, to not know what a bath is? Did she never wash? However, Gléofwyn had to admit… Ignika had played outside in the grass and dirt with her son, but she didn't have a single spot of dirt on her. Compared to her son… It was like Ignika hadn't played outside at all. It wasn't like Ignika was in need of a bath… But still. All children take baths. Every human being should wash him or herself, dirty or not. So should Ignika, Gléofwyn decided. She took the child by her hand and took her along. She told Folcwine to wait and let Ignika take a bath first, since it wouldn't take as long to get her clean compared to Folcwine.

--

Ignika was experiencing something new again. Gléofwyn had taken her to a small room lit by a few candles. In the middle was a wooden tub which Gléofwyn had filled with warm water. Ignika had been asked to take off her dress and step in the water. She didn't understand why. Why should she get wet on purpose? You get wet when crossing a river, or when rain falls on you. So why get wet on purpose? Still, she did not want to anger Gléofwyn and she did want to know why she was supposed to do this and what 'this' actually was. So she took of her white dress and sat down in the water.

That was when Ignika discovered nice: warm water actually felt nice. In fact, the Mask quite enjoyed the warmth the water was surroundings its body with. She now understood why other living beings would want to get into water on purpose, at least when it was warm water: because warm water felt nice.

Gléofwyn then told her to rub her skin with some sort of cloth, to get any dirt of her skin. Ignika didn't understand that. She wasn't dirty. Her body was made so that it rejected any matter that was not part of the body. Gléofwyn admitted to Ignika that she wasn't dirty, but that all children and humans had to wash now and then, dirty or not. It was simply something humans did. Ignika protested no longer after hearing that. She wanted to be a living being. If 'washing' would make her seem like one more so, she would wash herself when Gléofwyn told her to do so.

--

Ignika laid in her nice little bed in the relatively small room she shared with her friend, Folcwine. Since she had no parents, and she was all alone, Gléofwyn had told Ignika that she could stay here. Ignika was happy. The bed was not as soft as it had been with the Elves, and the covers were animal hides, but she did not mind. Somehow, this house and this little room gave her more of a 'welcome' feeling than any chamber, room or house of the Elves had ever done. Was that because she now was here living with a friend? Ignika wondered about this for a while, then decided to ignore the question. For what did it matter? She was happy. She had a friend and a home. She had learned some more things today that living beings do. How could she not be happy? She turned on her side and looked at the bed next to hers where Folcwine was already soundly asleep. Ignika smiled. For the first time since she had come into existence, she really felt like life was good. A yawn escaped Ignika's lips. Soon, her eyes closed and the body of the Mask fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

--

"Ignika, come and help me collect some vegetables from the garden that I'll need for dinner." Gléofwyn said. From inside the woman's house, a soft, almost genderless voice replied:

"Ignika coming mother!"

And then a child with pale skin, white hair and dress and black eyes ran out of the house happily towards her mother. She followed the woman without complaining and helped her with collecting the vegetables. While they were working, a seven year old girl ran up to Ignika.

"Ignika, will you and Folcwine come play with us?" She asked. Ignika looked at her mother, unsure.

"Can Ignika play, mother?" She asked quietly.

"After you're done with helping me here." Gléofwyn replied. She smiled at the white haired girl. Ignika nodded in understanding.

"Ignika will come play with Léofwyn when Ignika is done with work." She told the other girl. Léofwyn nodded and ran away again, happily laughing.

A bit later mother and child returned to the house carrying the vegetables. After Ignika laid the vegetables she was carrying on the table, she ran upstairs to her and her brother's room. Though she had just dug up some plants out of the ground, she had not a single spot of dirt on her hands or anywhere. Ignika flung open the door, startling her brother who had been told clean the room and was just finished doing that. Ignika grabbed his arm and dragged him to the door.

"Come play with Ignika and Léofwyn, brother." The white-haired girl said excitedly. Not waiting for him to reply, she dragged her nine year old brother downstairs and out of the house, passing their mother as she did so.

--

Gléofwyn smiled as she watched the two children leave. It had been two years since Ignika had come here… A lot had changed. A great Shadow had left the world, there was a King in Gondor again, there was peace… But Ignika was still Ignika. Though her speech had greatly improved and though her eyes were full of life now, she was still the same mysterious Ignika she had been on the day of her arrival. The child had not aged a day. Not one. Her hair had never grown. Her nails also refused to grow. Gléofwyn had been right that something about the child had been odd. But what did it matter? Odd or not, she was a child and probably always would be. And so Gléofwyn had not only taken her in, but adopted her. And so Ignika had gotten the final thing she had longed for: family.

She was well loved in the village, the other children played with her and she with them. She helped her mother with whatever chores Gléofwyn asked her to help with, she spent time with her brother… To keep it short, she was _living_. In the past two years Ignika had learned much. Not only in behaviour or speech. She had laughed, she had cried, she had been angry or sad… She was _feeling_. And probably always would. The Mask did not regret its choice to become a living being. Ignika knew she did not age and that eventually, her mother would die, and then her brother… But she could accept that. Death and living with it was just another part of being a living thing. Perhaps Ignika would one day decide to cease living in this body, too. Just to experience what death would be like, only to be reborn in another body later. But for now, she was content with staying alive and live with the family she had now.

--

The sound of laughing children reached Gléofwyn's ears. A smile appeared on her face. She guessed the children were playing tag again. It was, after all, Ignika's favourite game. With the smile still on her lips, Folcwine's and Ignika's mother went to prepare dinner. Her children would be hungry once they were done playing, after all.

The End.

_Ignika never appeared in any great legend or chronicle of Middle-earth. After all, that was not what she wanted. For all the Mask desired was to live the life of a normal human child and she had succeeded in doing so. _

_In time, Gléofwyn died and later Folcwine…But Ignika was still the same even when that happened. And though she was saddened greatly by their deaths, she lived on with their children and the children of those children, always telling them of her life with their parents, grandparents or great grandparents and so on…_

_If one is lucky, he or she might discover a little scribble in the diary or journal of a traveller, about how a young, immortal human girl lived in a little, quiet village in Rohan. Such would be the only tale Ignika would ever appear in. But why read tales when she is still out there, living life and feeling feelings?_

--

**Not my favourite ending, but I feel it's good enough. Sorry this last chapter took so long to write, I just had great difficulty finding a good way to wrap this story up, even though I knew where I wanted to end it... So I'm not sure about the result. Seems nice enough but... Oh well, I can always rewrite it should it be necesary. **

**And with that, this story has come to and end. My thanks to all who read Ignika's journey of becoming a living being. I enjoyed writing this, but I'm glad it is done. Now I can add another "COMPLETED!" to a fanfic status in my profile. **


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